Gluten-free treasure troves in Bath (HINT there are none…)

If you’re one of the many people with an intolerance or sensitivity to gluten you’ll probably find all kinds in Bath that suit your needs perfectly. BUT, if you are coeliac, like me, you might not have such luck.

We arrived on Monday and stayed until the Friday morning. I arrived equipped with my trusty Nima Sensor, as usual, all charged up and ready to eat my way around Bath.

Monday evening we booked in at ASK Italian, it was close to our apartment and I’d heard good things; a substantial gluten-free menu and they’re proud owners of a Coeliac UK accreditation – SUPERB, book me in. I’m a worrier by nature, so I asked the waitress several times about the preparation of the food and she assured me – it’s a separate area blah, blah, blah. I’ll have a pasta dish then, the Al Pomodoro.

Low gluten detected. Jeeeeeez man, OK, let’s not stress, I politely explained to another waiter ‘this has gluten in, helllllp.’ The manager was sent over, very apologetic and says he’ll get something else made for me. I had a mozzarella, rocket, basil and tomato starter salad. It was OK, a salad is a salad, and it came back safe to eat through my Nima, so all good, no poisoning tonight.

We re-visited ASK Italian on Thursday night for dessert after dinner at the apartment, I had the mango sorbet and, after being tested twice with two Nima pods, the dessert came back as detecting gluten. I thought I’d be safe with a sorbet – it’s literally ice! The trace of gluten has got to be either the fruit sauce or cross contamination – who knows!?

The Green Rocket

Other places we tried were The Green Rocket Cafe – a vegan and vegetarian place – pretty central in Bath City Centre. When searching in Google for ‘gluten free in Bath’, they’re the first restaurant who come up in the results. They don’t have a dedicated area to prepare gluten-free food – so I couldn’t eat here (plus the staff didn’t seem to understand my ‘do you have a separate preparation area for gluten-free food?’ question, which didn’t fill me with confidence). So if you’re gluten intolerant or sensitive, you might be OK here.

The Scallop Shell Restaurant

I found a gluten-free guide to Bath on the Free-From Heaven site stating the Scallop Shell had a separate fryer for their chips, ‘with potatoes chipped and fried separately – keeping them gluten-free.’ The article did state that although they had gluten-free batter for the fish, the fish was fried in the normal fryer – so no good for coeliacs. But, I fancied some chips so we walked out of our way to the restaurant. Turns out this article isn’t to be completely trusted, after talking with the chef he said the oil is actually filtered through the same filter as the normal fryer, therefore pretty much guaranteeing cross-contamination with their gluten products. So again, not a place for coeliacs but a potential place for the gluten sensitive amongst us! P.S. Really nice restaurant inside, I’ve included a picture from Google below, I was just sad because I was excited for chips :(.

Other things to do in Bath

We went to the Theatre Royal Bath, such a nice theatre so if there’s something on whilst you’re visiting, I’d definitely recommend booking some tickets! Inside is beautiful. We saw Jane Austen’s ‘Emma.’

You need to visit the Thermae Spa, too, the rooftop pool is amazing! Filled with water heated by the natural hot springs, many rooms to explore, steam rooms, sauna and ice room – a morning well spent for us!

The Roman Bath tour is a must, too – it was really interesting to learn about how the Romans used the Baths and how the health qualities of the natural spring waters brought visitors far and wide to the city.

If you’re going to Bath and you find some great gluten-free restaurants, feel free to share your experiences below 🙂